Dive-by-Dive Scoring & Live Scores Saturday
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Steele Johnson and Jamie Bissett finished 1-2 in the 3-meter finals and Mary Beth Dunnichay also qualified for another springboard event at the NCAA Championships, highlighting the second day of the Zone C Championships for the Purdue divers Friday.
Johnson, Bissett and Dunnichay all officially qualified for NCAAs with their performances Thursday. Their goal for the rest of the weekend was to finish among the top 12 in the remaining events to be able to also compete in those events at the national championship meet.
Johnson and Bissett finished 1-2 in both the prelims and finals of 3-meter to easily qualify for the event. Dunnichay was 11th in the 1-meter finals. All three are now eligible to compete in both springboard events at NCAAs. The top eight finishers in both the women's 1-meter and men's 3-meter Friday earned automatic berths at the NCAA Championships.
All seven Purdue divers that competed Friday advanced to the finals. Alec Back (11th on 3-meter) and Samm Reese (12th on 1-meter) both posted their second top 12 showings of the weekend, but are still in search of an NCAAs-qualifying finish that will make those top 12s notable. Back will have an opportunity in platform diving Saturday, but Reese did not compete in platform events this season and thus is likely done for the season.
The freshman still managed to post personal season-best scores in both springboard events this weekend. Her list score of 311.00 in the 1-meter finals Friday ranks ninth in program history.
Seniors Nate Cox, Sean Mokhtari and MacKenzie Tweardy are platform diving specialists and will have their best opportunities to qualify for NCAAs Saturday as Zones conclude with the men's and women's tower events. The top six men and top eight women on the platforms Saturday will qualify for the national championship meet.
Cox has qualified for the finals of both springboard events this weekend, but did not finish among the top 12 in either. He finished 14th in the 3-meter finals Friday. Tweardy competed in her first event of the weekend Friday and placed 15th in the 1-meter finals.
Back would be eligible to compete in all three diving events at NCAAs if he can be among the top six finishers on platform Saturday.
Action begins at 11 a.m. Saturday.
NCAA Zone C Diving Championships
Day Two Qualifiers for NCAA Championships
Men's 3-Meter (Top 8 Finishers; Top 12 Qualify if Already Earned NCAAs Bid)
Steele Johnson, Purdue
Jamie Bissett, Purdue
Michael Hixon, Indiana
James Connor, Indiana
Stephen Ettienne, Ohio State
Shane Miszkiel, Ohio State
Joseph Coumos, Notre Dame
Alex Chan, Eatern Michigan
Women's 1-Meter (Top 8 Finishers; Top 12 Qualify if Already Earned NCAAs Bid)
Pei Lin, Miami (Ohio)
Kaixuan Zhang, Southern Illinois
Christa Cabot, Kentucky
Jessica Parratto, Indiana
Carey Chen, Michigan
Wenting Zhang, Illinois State
Rebecca Hamperian, Kentucky
Lacey Houser, Indiana
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Allison Casareto, Notre Dame
Rebecca Deacon, Eastern Michigan
Mary Beth Dunnichay, Purdue (Earned NCAAs Bid on 3-Meter Thursday)
Samm Reese, Purdue
Purdue Divers, Men's 3-Meter
Steele Johnson, 882.70 - Event Winner (440.35 Finals, 442.35 Prelims)
Jamie Bissett, 849.00 - Finished 2nd in Finals (447.10 Finals, 401.90 Prelims)
Alec Back, 693.45 - Finished 11th in Finals (333.15 Finals, 360.30 Prelims)
Nate Cox, 664.10 - Finished 14th in Finals (332.05 Finals, 332.05 Prelims)
Purdue Divers, Women's 1-Meter
Mary Beth Dunnichay, 582.30 - Finished 11th in Finals (313.25 Finals, 269.05 Prelims)
Samm Reese, 599.65 - Finished 12th in Finals (311.00 Finals, 288.65 Prelims)
MacKenzie Tweardy, 570.35 - Finished 15th in Finals (286.10 Finals, 284.25 Prelims)